Firdanne

Regions and Settlements

Sovereign Cities
Although within the boundaries of the kingdom of Firdanne, the hardened city states on its northeast coast have a tenuous bond with the nation. They pay significant monetary tribute to the king to be left alone. Vaunport and Ealasaid are the largest, most economically strong of these cities.

DESCRIPTION
One of the few city states having survived the decline of unified Firdanne, Vaunport pays fealty to the crown in name only. Truth be told, Vaunport could survive and even thrive if it were to throw off the burden of taxes and bowing to the king. Why it remains in the kingdom is of much debate in the city’s watering holes. Vaunport is hardened by harsh weather and constant threat of orc raid. It boasts a strong wall and a rough army under the command of the Lord of Keys. Out its west gate lies the Tharenwaste.LOCATIONS
Crow’s Nest
A fine old establishment catering to salty sailors and pirates. Adventurers would do well to find work here.

Firdanne Lowlands

West of Eileburg and south of the mountains, the Firdanne Lowlands spread west to the Hagswomb. Its people mind their own business, which is largely tending farms and livestock.

Cornerstone is a tiny hamlet located at the base of the Mistshroud Mountain. It is the last stopping point before pilgrims and adventurers head up to the Lyceum. The town’s people are friendly and welcoming as they rarely get visitors and are always happy to have a fresh influx of gold and trade goods.
Most travelers are greeted personally by the mayor, Arec, who usually hosts a dinner in their honor. For a small fee, the local ranger Amira can guide pilgrims up part way to the Lyceum. Amira only travels part way because there are rumors of a dangerous beast that hunts on the mountain side. Most pilgrims who travel to the Lyceum never come back. Some say it is because they stay at the Lyceum and bask in the glory of the Host Archon. Others say some vile creature kills them. The truth is likely somewhere in between.

In the shadow of the Cranesnest sits Bannenford. Settled long before the erection of the local keep, this point has been the most popular point for crossing the local River Bannen for hundreds of years. Lord McElhenney installed his son Seamus as mayor of the town at the boy’s coming of age.

The Lyceum lies at the top of the Mistshroud Mountain. The worshipers who live there spend their time in introspection and study. Few ever make it to the Lyceum as it is far from any large population center and in a very remote location.
The Lyceum also home to the Host Archon who is, allegedly, the avatar of the God Sterass. The settlement has little in the way of trade goods, equipment or magical items. However, many of the residents are spellcasters of some note, and all have traveled or studied extensively. And if the rumors are true, the Host Archon would probably be the most powerful divine spellcaster in the land.

Aershire has been on the decline for decades. What had once been one of the most prosperous port cities in the nation, devolved into a struggling backwater grasping at its former glory. The decline was due in partly to foreign nations finding other more prosperous cities in the nations to the south to trade with. Additionally, there were rumors of a coven of witches stirring up trouble in hills surrounding the town.
Aershire’s other reason for decline was Firdanne’s rising tensions with the Dwarven nation of Ordwa. Relations with the nation of Ordwa had been eroding for years resulting in yet more economic woes.

Description:
Turroughshire sits on the border of Ordwa, Firdanne, and the ocean. This was a bustling trade town before the tensions built between the human and dwarven nations. Despite the fact that tensions continue to build and a curfew is enforced, this has done little to dampen the economic prosperity of the town. While the trade of exotic of items has dropped off, the trade of weapons and the ore to craft them has increased dramatically. An influx of soldiers has also boosted alcohol sales, and prices.

The Bread Basket of Firdanne is a collection of small towns and cities in the fertile grassland areas south and east of the capital city. The land is mostly good only for grain, though some areas raise dairy cattle or goats. The few settlements located on the shore focus more on fishing and trade with neighboring nations, but a sizable part of the population also work the fields outside their towns.

The Bread Basket grew out of both practicality and necessity. What was once a smattering of small villages spread out across hundreds of miles has grown into an area that is heavily populated but with a low population density. The nation of Firdanne depends heavily upon the food provided by the Bread Basket and as a result, all of the settlements in the area continue to grow and thrive as they continue to expand their agricultural efforts.

The people of the Bread Basket are hardworking folk. Many never know a life beyond the farm or the docks. They spend almost all of their time tending to crops, farm animals, worrying about the current market prices and hoping for, or cursing, the rain. The vast majority of those in the Bread Basket live modest lives. A handful of families in the area would be considered wealthy, but conversely only a few would be considered destitute. There is always work to be done, even if the work does not pay well.

Settlements in the heart of the Bread Basket are quite spread out. In fact, most “towns” are simply a conglomerate of stores and buildings with no houses. The citizens of these settlements, except the store owners, live far outside the settlement on their homesteads where they grow crops or raise animals on large tracks of land. Travel to town is fairly frequent however, as a farm is only so self sufficient and crops must be sold, tools repaired, gods worshiped, and health matters attended to.

The Bread Basket is filled mostly with commoners who have little skill or knowledge beyond growing crops, though many are also familiar with the plant and animal life in the area. Additionally, a physician or divine spellcaster is rarely readily available, so many families usually have at least one person who has some medical knowledge and many women practice as midwives.

Harvest is the exception to the rule in the breadbasket. The city itself is large and is much more densely populated than any other settlement in the Bread Basket. Harvest grew out of its strategic location in the nation of Firdanne. It is located at the meeting of the river Aeir and the river Blei, both of which provide the city with wondrous economic possibilities. Harvest is named so as the majority of food grown in the Bread Basket is shipped and sold in Harvest at the end of the years growing cycle.

This continual influx of people wishing to sell their goods eventually lead to an expansion in the town. Citizens realized that there was more money to be made in selling food stuffs than growing them, and many of the citizens left the country side and began working the docks or picking up some other trade that had suddenly become more viable.

The citizens training in trades had a cyclical effect, increasing the commerce in the city. People from all over the Bread Basket come to Harvest not just to sell food, but also to buy products and services that would not be practical in their own towns. These products and services also keep a steady stream of customers traveling to the city year round with a large peak during the yearly harvest.

Hartshorn Coast
A relatively thin strip of unforested land between the forest of the same name and the Restless Sea, Hartshorn Coast

Hartshorn Forest
A wild, magical old forest, the Forest can be dangerous to those who are unprepared. It draws master hunters, traders, and mages due to the varied uses of the antlers of the mythical bucks for which the Forest was named.

Red’s Fort
More a trading post than a fort, Red’s is the last stop of civilization before entering Hartshorn Forest. Sturdy old wooden walls protect the half dozen buildings within from barbarians, beasts, and the elements.

Drakemarsh
These bogs and lowlands abut the Tharenwaste. Rumors of scaled lizard men pervade all tales of these swampy lowlands, which have been abandoned by civilized folk for 200 years.

Hagswomb
This untrod crevice separates the nations of Ordwa and Firdanne and is surrounded an unusually dry, barren earth. Superstitious folk give it a wide berth. Rumored to have formed when Reylark the Mad lost her sanity, ripping the continent nearly in two and forming the mountains astride it.